


How It's Meant to Be - A Florabella/Divergent AU

by burnedbutnotburied



Category: Divergent Series - Veronica Roth, Florence + the Machine
Genre: Crossover, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-04-18
Packaged: 2018-05-18 01:23:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5892712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burnedbutnotburied/pseuds/burnedbutnotburied
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabella Summers is one of the most well-known Dauntless trainers in Chicago. Her life is flipped upside down as soon as she sees Florence, a sixteen-year-old Erudite girl who seems to be lost in her own world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first fanfiction on here...I felt the need to combine two of my favourite things :) I will try to update as often as I can.
> 
> Instagram: @_burnedbutnotburied_

Isabella Summers stood with her faction, watching as the stadium filled up with people. This was the day that her faction would hopefully grow just a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger. She watched the gray-clad Abnegation members assemble in their seats near her faction, marvelling at how they kept themselves so clean, so pure, so innocent. 

That world wasn’t for her. That’s why she was glad she’d been born into Dauntless. 

Dauntless - the faction of strength, spontaneity and sacrifice. Her home. She had been considered one of the best members ever since she’d passed initiation, and now she was one of the most renowned instructors. Nothing made her more proud than seeing those little initiates grow into strong, confident warriors, thanks to her rigorous training methods. They were living proof that everything did pay off in the end, no matter how difficult it seemed to be at the time. 

As Isabella looked aimlessly around the room, something caught her eye. 

Or rather, someone. 

She noticed the hair first, shockingly red and falling down the girl’s back, sharply contrasting with her pale skin. She was dressed in traditional Erudite blue, wearing a navy tunic and tan khakis. She had a sort of presence that caused everyone’s eyes to gravitate to her, although she didn’t seem to notice. The girl made her way over to where the other sixteen-year-olds were sitting.

Isa didn’t realize she was staring until her friend Chris nudged her. She jumped and averted her gaze quickly.

“Hoping she’ll join Dauntless?” Chris teased, smirking at her.

“What? No! I mean, well, she’d be - no!”

Chris laughed, and Isa elbowed him in the gut to shut him up. Suddenly the lights dimmed, and the representative from Erudite (Isa could never remember names) took the stage. 

As soon as he began to speak, saying the same thing that was said every year, Isa quickly lost interest and tuned him out. Her eyes made their way back over to where the red-haired girl sat with her family. She looked nervous, and she was playing with the sleeve of her tunic. The older woman sitting beside her - who Isa guessed was the girl’s mother - put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and whispered something to her. The girl nodded and gave a small smile, but Isa could practically feel the waves of nervousness coming from her. Isa wondered why she was so nervous - hadn’t the aptitude test shown her what to do?

The first name was called, but Isa barely heard it. She was too busy thinking about what would happen if the girl chose Dauntless, but she doubted that would ever be the case. Still, there was something about her...

“Isa. Hey!” Isa was pulled out of her thoughts by Chris, who was looking excited. “What do you think of that kid Jordan? Think he’ll be able to make it through?”

“What?” Isa looked around to see the other members of her faction jumping and cheering for a new recruit - a kid with sandy blond hair and broad shoulders who looked ecstatic to be there. 

“So? What do you think?” Chris beamed at the kid, who waved at them before taking a seat.

“I - I don’t know, I guess we’ll see.” Isa jammed her hands into the pockets of her black leather jacket and tried to focus on the ceremony, but her gaze kept wandering back to the red-haired girl in the blue tunic who was looking more nervous than ever. She wondered when the girl would ever get called up to the front. 

And then, she did. 

“Florence Welch,” the Erudite representative boomed, and his voice reverberated around the room. 

Isa’s breath caught as the girl got to her feet, visibly shaking, and walked down the steps toward the five huge bowls in the center of the room. 

Florence. 

Isa didn’t know if she would ever say two words to this girl in all her life, but she knew one thing - she wasn’t going to forget her name. 

Florence stopped in front of the bowls and took the ceremonial knife in her shaking hand. Isa bit her lip and folded her hands in her lap, hoping and praying that she would miraculously choose Dauntless. She had never wanted to get to know a person more in her life. 

Florence brought the knife to the palm of her hand and cut across it in a clean line. She paused for a few seconds before smiling to herself and holding it over the Erudite bowl. Two drops of blood fell, turning the clear water red, and the Erudite members went nuts. 

That was it. Isa tried to smile, tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest. She watched as Florence’s mother threw her arms around her daughter, holding her close, and Isa’s body ached to do the same. 

“I knew she’d stay in Erudite,” Chris said. “I didn’t think she could be anything else but -” He stopped when he saw the look on Isa’s face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I - I’m fine.” Isa smiled briefly before looking back down at her hands. 

“Damn,” Chris said. “You really like this girl, don’t you?”

Isa sighed. “There’s just something about her that’s - different.”

✻✻✻

At the end of the ceremony, Isa stood up and started to walk out of the room, walking as slowly as possible in the hope that she would see Florence again. She stole a glance behind her, but there were too many people and too many colours to pick out Florence from the crowd. 

“You’re supposed to be Dauntless! How come you're being so bloody slow?” Chris slowed down from his steady run and let Isa catch up to him. Then he realized what she was doing and grinned. “You’re waiting for that Florence girl, aren’t you?”

“Fuck off, Chris.” Isa looked behind her once more, hoping with all her might that she would catch one more glimpse of that red hair. 

“I haven’t seen you this head-over-heels for someone since -” Chris paused. “I’ve never seen you head-over-heels for anyone, ever.”

“I am not head-over-heels for her!” Isa fought the blush that was creeping up onto her face. “I just want to, you know, see if she’s -”

“Whatever. See you in the compound.” Chris started to run again, easily catching up to the rest of the faction. 

Isa covered her face with her hands, trying to hide the blush that coated her cheeks. When she took her hands away a few seconds later, she saw it. 

Red hair. 

Florence was walking past, following her mom, a smile on her face that was as bright as the sun rising over the wall on a clear morning. She seemed to be in her own world, walking slower than the rest of her faction, much like, Isa realized, she herself was doing. Just then, Florence’s gaze left whatever she’d been looking at on the ceiling, and drifted down until her eyes rested on Isa. 

Shit, Isa thought. She tried to look away, but Florence had already seen her and all Isa could do was stare into those clear green eyes. Florence smiled, briefly, before running to catch up with her mom and the rest of her faction. 

Isa could only watch and silently curse herself for feeling whatever it was she was feeling for a girl that she would never see again.


	2. Distracted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isa can't stop thinking about Florence.

“This is the first round of initiation.” Isa projected her voice around the room, hopefully making up for her small size, as she addressed the group of initiates that stood before her. “We’re going to be testing your physical strength first, as that is a very important part of being Dauntless.”

One of the initiates spoke up from the front of the crowd. Isa realized it was that kid from the ceremony, the one who had looked so happy to be in Dauntless. Now, he just looked terrified. 

“What happens if we don’t pass?” the kid asked, clenching his fists at his sides. “The initiation, I mean.”

Isa looked into the kid’s eyes. There was always one person who would ask that question, and Isa always hated giving the answer. 

“Everyone who doesn’t pass initiation will leave us and be forced to live factionless.”

Instantly, Isa could feel fear enter the room and settle in the hearts of the young initiates. She felt awful, but hey, the kid had asked, and Isa had to tell him the truth. 

David, one of the other instructors, stepped forward and began to speak. Isa retreated into her own thoughts, thoughts that were overly populated by a certain tall redhead. Stop thinking about her, you stupid girl, she told herself. You need to stop this right now. 

“Isa? You coming?” David touched her arm, shocking her out of her thoughts and back into reality. The initiates were filing towards the training room, some of them looking back at her with concern on their faces. 

“Yeah, of course. What - where are we going?” 

“Were you not listening? You’re going to work on hand-to-hand combat with the kids while I set up the shooting range.” 

“I - okay…”

“What’s up with you?” David threw his hands up in exasperation. “Snap out of it, you’re the best instructor out there!”

Isa sighed and started to walk quickly ahead of him to avoid further questioning. With each step, she tried to drive the image of Florence out of her head and focus on what she was best at - being Dauntless. 

 

✻✻✻

It was about six o'clock, and Isa was at the table surrounded by initiates. Chris was sitting beside her, picking at his food. Isa sighed and pushed back her chair, unable to eat a single bite. 

“You okay? You’ve been acting weird all day,” Chris remarked, setting down his fork and looking at Isa. 

“What? Yeah, of course, I’m just not very hungry.” Isa tried to smile, but failed.

Chris, having known Isa all his life, shook his head. “No, no. You’ve been acting strange for a while now, Isabella, what’s wrong?” 

Isa punched him in the arm. “Don’t call me Isabella.”

“Don’t change the subject.” 

Isa glared at him, got up from the table, and walked away. 

Once alone in her room, Isa went over to her bed and pulled her notebook out from in between the mattress and the bed frame. Isa had found the notebook in an old, ruined building during one of her nightly runs, and had been using charcoal as a writing utensil. She’d been keeping it hidden, in case one of the other instructors decided to enter her room for any reason. Now, she sat down at her desk and opened the book, reading over the things she’d written and drawn throughout the years. A lot of her writing was smudged, therefore illegible, but the drawings remained clear and clean, the strokes light rather than hard and angry. 

Isa opened to a blank page and smiled, knowing exactly what her next drawing would be. 

She started by shaping a round face, with hair that fell past the shoulders; then eyes that were wide open and seemed to be looking at everything and nothing at the same time. The lips curved up into a tiny smile. Isa silently wished she was able to use colour, but decided that this was better than nothing. She moved on to the slender body, arms tucked behind the back shyly, feet spread slightly apart. Then she dressed her drawing in a tunic, pants and shoes. Smiling to herself, Isa finished shading the drawing and, in her tiniest script, wrote two letters in the bottom left corner. 

F.W. 

Isa stared at the drawing for a few seconds longer before she began to feel guilty. What was she doing, drawing this girl who was three years younger than her and who she’d never even properly met? 

Standing up, Isa tore the page out of the notebook, folded it as small as she could, and stuffed it under her mattress, back where no one would ever look. Then she put the book in its rightful place and pulled on her black knee-high boots.

She left the Dauntless compound quickly and quietly, somehow avoiding being seen by anyone, and climbed the stone steps out into the night.


	3. Finally

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isa goes for a run and meets up with a certain someone.

It was a cool night, with a slight breeze, which Isa thanked the universe for as she reached solid ground and started to run steadily through pathways of ruined buildings. Through so many lives that had been ripped apart by war and destruction. 

The sky was pitch dark by the time Isa stopped running and realized where she was. Somehow, her feet had carried her to the outskirts of the Erudite compound. Even when she had no intention of doing so, she was still always thinking about Florence. 

Isa sighed, giving up on trying to clear her head, and turned around to go back home. Suddenly, the sound of footsteps came from above. Isa pulled out her gun and clutched it at her side. 

“Who’s there?” she called. 

No answer. The footsteps stopped. 

“Who’s there?” Isa repeated. “I won’t hurt you, as long as you come out now.”

Feet hit the concrete in front of Isa, and Isa jumped back, startled. 

“I’m sorry - I was just going home.” a small voice said. “I don’t mean any harm.” Isa’s eyes finally adjusted to the darkness, and she saw a slender girl with red hair standing in front of her. Isa swore, loudly, and the girl flinched a bit.

It was Florence.

“I - I’m sorry, I’ll just go now…” Florence turned, preparing to leave. Isa made a decision in a split second and reached out to grab her arm. 

“What’s your problem?” Florence whirled on her, and she hastily backpedaled. 

“I - um.” Isa stood there like an idiot while Florence stared, fear in her eyes. Then the fear lifted, replaced by a spark of recognition. 

“I remember you!” Florence squealed excitedly. “You were at the Choosing Ceremony! Dauntless!” She was suddenly transformed into a small child before Isa’s eyes, which Isa had to admit was kind of cute.

“Yeah - I was.” Isa tried to form coherent thoughts in her overly excited brain, but all she could successfully process was FlorenceistalkingtomeFlorenceistalkingtomeFlorenceis…

“Are you okay?” For the first time, Isa noticed the slightest tinge of a British accent in Florence’s soft voice.

“I’m fine.” Isa cleared her throat and stood up straight, trying to seem taller than she actually was. Florence smirked at her, which set off all kinds of shaky butterflies in her stomach. She’s sixteen, Isa reminded herself. You’re nineteen. Keep it together.

“Do you want me to leave?” Florence inquired, looking solemn. 

“No,” Isa answered automatically. Shit, she thought.

“Do you want to talk?”

Isa sat down on the concrete, feeling as if she was being controlled by some unseen force. None of this felt real. “Sure,” she agreed, her voice sounding higher and squeakier than normal. She hoped that Florence didn’t notice.

Florence joined her on the ground, pulling off her boots and socks and throwing them beside her. Then she stuck her legs out in front of her and wiggled her bare toes. “That feels better,” she said to no one in particular. “I’ve never been a fan of shoes.” She turned to look at Isa. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Isabella - well, no one ever calls me that. I go by Isa.” 

Florence’s lips curved up into a smile not unlike the one Isa had drawn just a few hours earlier. “I’m Florence,” she said. Then she added, “I go by Flo. Sometimes. My dad calls me Flossie. Sometimes. But other times he -”

“Do you always talk this much?” Isa was both annoyed and fascinated by Florence’s incessant babbling. 

Florence stopped abruptly, seeming to retreat back into her shell. “No, not really,” she said softly. “Only to people I like.”

Isa’s heart slammed into her chest. “You like me? But you barely know me.”

Florence shrugged. “I don’t know. I feel like I do, somehow.”

They sat quietly for a while, Florence staring off into some unseen corner of space, and Isa staring at Florence and thinking about how oddly comfortable she felt with someone she’d been sitting with for less than twenty minutes. 

Then Florence looked at Isa, and Isa quickly looked away, down to the ground. 

“What are you thinking about?” she asked. 

‘You’ danced on the edges of Isa’s lips, but she held it back. “I don’t know,” she said dumbly. 

Florence laughed then, a sound that was both beautiful and contagious, and Isa had to hold back a giggle of her own. “Come on, you have to be thinking about something.”

“Why do you care?” Isa looked up at her, and instantly regretted her sharp tone the second she laid eyes on Florence’s face. 

“I’m trying to make conversation.” Florence sounded hurt. “I don’t get to do that, much.”

Isa sighed, more at herself than at Florence. “Sorry, I just - don’t know what to say, that’s all.” Stop fucking this up, Isabella, she scolded herself. 

“It’ll get easier.”

“What?” 

“You know, when you get to know me better.”

“When I what?” 

“Really, Isa, did you think we were just going to completely forget about each other after tonight?” Florence was getting excited again. “I like you. I think we could be good friends.”

Isa, whose head was still reeling from hearing Florence say her name, flinched at the word 'friends'. 

“I - yeah, me too,” was all she could manage to say back. 

“Great,” Florence said, getting to her feet. She picked up her boots. “Same time tomorrow?” 

“Okay,” Isa felt a strange giddiness explode in her stomach, taking over her entire body. Florence nodded and turned to leave, still barefoot. 

“Florence,” Isa called out, liking the way the name felt on her tongue, “are you going to put on your boots?”

“I hate shoes, remember?” Florence rolled her eyes. “You sound like my mother.”   
“Okay - sorry.” Nice going, Isa thought to herself. 

“It’s alright.” Florence gave her the cutest smile, and Isa’s heart melted a tiny bit. 

As the tall redhead clambered onto the slab of rock that jutted out over the clearing, Isa suddenly thought of one more question, something she felt that she needed to clarify even though she already knew the answer. 

“What faction are you from?” she yelled up at Florence, who turned to face her. She suddenly looked incredibly small and timid. 

“Erudite,” she answered, and then she ran off into the darkness.


	4. Connected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isa and Florence meet up for the second time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for not updating in a while, I've been really busy with school.

After twenty-three long, agonizing hours, it was finally time to go meet Florence. Isa could barely concentrate on even the most mundane of tasks, and all day she’d had this strange fluttery feeling in her stomach. 

Friends. Just friends, Isa reminded herself. Hell, she didn’t even know if Florence was into girls. Still, Isa couldn’t help but think of what would happen if they crossed that line….

“Hey,” Chris said, running up to her. “David said he wants to have a meeting tonight with all the trainers - he wanted me to let you know.”

“What?” Isa’s heart pounded. “Now?”

“He said in about half an hour.”

Isa’s heart sunk. “Why?”

“Just to go over some things for training, apparently. Next week's agenda, and all that.”

Isa looked away, unable to meet Chris’s eyes. Before she let herself think, she blurted something out. “Tell him I won’t be there.”

“What?” Chris stepped towards her. “Why?”

“Not feeling well. Tell him I had to go for a run.” She looked up and met her best friend’s eyes. “Please, Chris.”

Chris gave a brisk nod, not asking questions, and touched Isa on the shoulder. “Be careful,” he said. 

Isa left with a smile on her face and a strange lightness in her heart that she realized she had never experienced before. 

 

✻✻✻

It was nearly dark by the time Isa reached the ruined building where she’d met Florence the night before. Breathless, she collapsed on the ground and tried to steady her shaking hands. 

Calm down, she told herself. Pull yourself together.

“Isa?” 

Isa jumped, and turned to see Florence perched on top of a slab of rock. Her heart started to beat faster than it ever had before, and she felt her hands become sweaty.

“Hey,” she managed to say. “How are you?”

Instead of answering, Florence beckoned to her. “Come up here,” she said. “The view’s better.” 

Isa obeyed, clambering up beside Florence with less grace than she had hoped. Florence gave her a little smile, and Isa felt her heart melt. The two of them sat with their legs dangling over the edge of the rock, looking out at the clear night. 

“So,” Florence said, breaking the silence. “Tell me about yourself, Isabella.” 

Isa blinked and looked over at her. She had a tiny smirk on her face and she was playing with the sleeve of her blue jacket.

“Why?” 

“I barely know anything about you, just your name and your faction,” Florence replied. “At least give me something else.”

“I don’t have anything worth knowing.” Isa dropped her gaze to her own hands, which were folded on her lap and clenched so tight that her knuckles were turning white. 

“Come on, you have to.” Florence was starting to plead, and Isa had to admit she thought it was kind of cute. 

“Fine,” she said, stealing a glance at the red-haired girl, who brightened. Fighting back a smile, Isa unclenched her hands. “Um,” she said, “my name is Isabella Summers, I’m a trainer in the Dauntless faction . . .”

Florence looked at her expectantly. “And?”

“I’m not very good at this,” Isa said honestly. “I don’t open up to people much.”

“Clearly,” Florence said, rolling her eyes, and this time Isa couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. 

They sat without speaking for a few moments, Isa trying to remember how to breathe and Florence playing with the edge of her sleeve.

“I like to draw,” Isa blurted, before she could stop herself. 

Florence’s green eyes met hers, and she smirked. “Finally,” she said, “we’ve made a breakthrough.” 

Feeling herself blush, Isa dropped her gaze and tried to hide her face with her hair. Florence crossed her legs and sat in silence for a while, and Isa prayed she would drop the subject of drawing.

“So, what do you draw?” 

Isa stiffened. This was exactly what she didn’t want Florence to ask. She felt herself begin to sweat, and hoped her face wasn’t as red as she thought. 

“Um - nothing special, really…”

She thought of the ripped page stuffed under her mattress back at the Dauntless compound, the drawing she wished she could add colour to. The drawing she would never, ever, let anyone see. 

Florence, who must have sensed something was a little off, stopped talking. Isa let out the breath that she realized she’d been holding and got to her feet. “I should probably go,” she said. “My faction will be wondering where I am.”

“Okay,” Florence said. “Same time next week?”

Isa looked down at the gangly redhead who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground. Her vibrant green eyes blinked up at Isa, and she was still playing with her damn sleeve.

“Really,” Isa said. “You really want to talk to me again, after you’ve seen how incredibly boring I am?”

“You’re not boring,” Florence replied. “You just haven’t found the right person to open up to yet.”

Isa sighed, and then her hand was outstretched to Florence before she even knew what was happening. Florence, obviously surprised, smiled and took Isa’s hand. Her pale skin was shocking against Isa’s dark glove, and Isa felt a little shock pass through her like a tiny lightning bolt. She wondered what it would feel like to actually have Florence touch her, to feel her close, connected - 

“Isa? You can let go of my hand now.”

Startled out of her thoughts, Isa realized that Florence was standing in front of her, looking concerned, her hand still wrapped in Isa’s. Isa jumped and pulled her hand away, biting back a curse word. 

“Are you okay?” Florence asked, stepping closer to Isa, which of course did nothing to stop Isa’s pounding heart. 

“Yeah. I’m fine.” Isa said stonily, turning and climbing down the slab of rock. 

“See you next week?” 

Isa looked up to where Florence stood, her figure silhouetted against the full moon, and she nodded. 

“Bye, Florence.”


End file.
